


White Caps of Memories

by Flight815Down



Series: Battered Hulls and Broken Hardships [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:43:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4280703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flight815Down/pseuds/Flight815Down
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The settling of your daemon is one of the most important moments in a child's life</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oliver

Oliver woke up on his twelfth birthday to a settled daemon. Athru was standing on his chest, prodding at him with her small, delicate paws. Her eyes were shining with mischief and her coat was bright and he couldn’t have been happier when she announced that this was who they were.

  
His mother beamed and declared a party was in order. His father clapped him on the shoulder and told him how proud he was. Thea bounced up and down and Acutus, in the form of a bunny, did the same.

  
The staff made him his favorite breakfast. Raisa snuck chocolate chips into his pancakes. Pere groomed Athru, making her fur shine, and his mother talked about how foxes were in their blood, how he was destined to be one.

  
All of his classmates gathered around and told Ollie how beautiful she was. His teachers doted over both of them and he got extra dessert at lunch. He and Tommy spent the whole afternoon playing together and planning out all the new things they could do, now that they were both grown up.

  
That night, when he was lying in bed with his daemon next to him, Ollie put his hand on her, threading his fingers through her fur. “Thanks,” he whispered.

  
“What do you mean?”

  
He shrugged. “For settling. You’re everything I could have wanted. Everyone likes you like this. You’re just perfect like this.”

  
“Yeah,” she said, eyes drooping. “We are.”


	2. Roy

When Yala settled, Roy didn’t have anyone to tell. He was ten and alone in their little house, the summer sun turning it into an oven. His mother had been gone for a week, off on a bender or something, when she told him, looking up from where she was warming in the sun. “I think I’m going to stay this way.”

She was golden and brittle, tough enough to fight off everything around her. She was small, strong, and solitary, easy enough to hide in a pocket, away from the world. 

They spent the next two days in the public library for the first time. The librarians directed him to the reptile section of the identification department. Yala perched on his shoulder, peering down at page after page. She’d shake her head and he’d move on. But every fucking lizard looked the same.

When they made it home on the second night, they were met with a thrown bottle. Mom had finally stumbled back to the house. As the yelling began, Yala rolled in on herself, grabbing onto her tail with her mouth and let her thick spikes flair up. 

It took them five minutes to find out what she was the next day. An Armadillo Girdled Lizard, a predator and a survivor, hardy, solid, standoffish, and different. Roy thought she was perfect, except for their desperate need and dependence on their flock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yala: http://goo.gl/5h0lYB


	3. John

Andy Diggle cried when Forza settled. His daemon, Fre, shifted into a pitiful looking, whimpering kitten after John had announced her change to the family. While their parents had congratulated him on his big day, his little brother’s eyes welled up and he raced out of the house. 

Before his mother could follow after, John stepped out in front of her. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’ll go figure out what’s wrong.” He was let out with a nod and a peck on the top of his head.

The six-year-old had barricaded himself in the small wooden fort their father had built for them two summers before. The door and windows had been pulled shut, but John could still hear his brother softly crying as he got closer. He sat down beside the tiny door and knocked.

“Andy? What’s the matter?”

His brother quieted. John could only hear the scuffling of shoes before Andy opened the window to his right. He peeked out of the opening, eyes red and puffy, with a deep frown on his face. “What do you want?”

“I just want to know what’s wrong, that’s all.” Andy rubbed at his eyes, but remained silent. “Come on, please?”

His eyes fell, away from his brother’s gaze. “Why’d she have to settle?” he mumbled.

John looked over to where Forza was sitting. Her brown eyes mirrored his confusion, ears perked. “Everyone’s daemon settles, Andy. You know that. It’s just part of growing up.”  
“I know,” he sniffed. “But why’d she have to settle now? We won’t be able to play any of our games anymore.”

The older boy finally realized the cause of his brother’s tears. She wouldn’t be able to change to fit their games. Fre and Forza wouldn’t be able to fly together. She couldn’t turn into a seal when they went to the pool. John would be without a horse when they played cowboys. Forza whined, pushing her head into his hand. He rubbed her ears.

“I know,” John echoed, “and it sucks. But it’s going to be great too.” At Andy’s confused look, he continued. “She can still play with us. And Mom won’t make us get a babysitter because I’m grown up. And no one will mess with us, not when she’s so big and strong. She’ll protect you.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yeah.”

“Promise?” Andy wormed his little hand through the window. John shook it.

“Promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm the worst. Sorry, that it's been forever and know that your comments have meant the world to me. I just finished my first year at college and life kind of threw a lot of shit at me too.
> 
> As a form of an apology, I'm going to write a series of quick stories about when each character's daemon settled - stopped changing forms like children's can do - and hope this makes up for the time gap. I'm planning on doing most of the characters that I've already written about in this story and some of the other major ones. I'll probably leave this open, so as new people are added to the show, there stories can be told as well.


End file.
